When I first heard the words “Black Lives Matter” spoken in the form of protest, I must admit, I was a little put off. I thought the phrase to be divisive and a bit too dogmatic. Shame is mine for admitting to this, but even greater shame I have for having thought that way from the beginning.
I sincerely believed that “All Lives Matter” was a better argument in that in that it seemed more inclusive, encompassing Black, White, Hispanic lives, and all others. But then I began to listen to others as they spoke against the initial initiative, chanting “All Lives Matter” in a taunt that sought to mute those who spoke with more specificity on the value of lives that appeared invaluable—expendable even—in the eyes of the world. Knowing the history of non-whites in this country and across the globe, one can only wonder if a day will ever come that “All Lives Matter” would be an honest belief embedded in the hearts of people instead of being a taunting chant that serves to mute the protest of people who do have to shout their value to deaf ears. I don’t know which is worse—the fact that such is not reality or that I feel naïve for hoping that it ever could be.
Black voices have been sending cries into the heavens for change; the pain experienced under their collective condition quivering their vocal chords, rendering chilling calls for freedom for centuries. Be it protest or poetry, be it the blues, gospel, novels, or even common conversation, the condition has not changed drastically enough despite the innumerable ways that they’ve told their stories and asserted their lives as valuable. For centuries, people have suffered under supremacists who stop at nothing—not even the sight of a child’s hunger—to fill their pockets with the tears, blood, and dignity of others. And so “Black Lives Matter”, I can say with courage and a spirit of agreement, is not said to divide, as the division is pre-existing and not cultivated by those who chant it proudly.
Saying that “Black Lives Matter” is an affirmation, first, of self worth, and second, a call for the proper treatment of our lives as lives worth our existence. Yes, all lives matter; each of us, irrespective of color or creed, gender or religious belief, have been placed on this earth with breath in our bodies and blood streaming through our veins. The fact that we have life alone is reason enough for all of our lives to matter. However, the protest "Black Lives Matter" is an important one--one that needs to be heard as it is for the sake of the black lives that are taken the hand of careless, hateful, violence. The tension it creates in its assertive presentation is one that must exist, adding to the voices of protesters from years past, so that one day the value of black lives might be at level with that of Whites, joined with those of Hispanic people, Middle Eastern, and all others, in the hearts of each person.
